


Mad About the Boy

by Not_a_Siren



Series: Lukanette Requested Oneshots [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Lukanette, ask, prompt, prompt ask
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:48:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23491186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_a_Siren/pseuds/Not_a_Siren
Summary: Dedicated to swiftieanimecat:Prompts: Shouldn’t you be with him/her?” (15) & “You make me feel safe.” (35)A mission goes wrong and all cards are unknowingly laid out on the table regarding their feelings for one another.*I really meant for this to be 3k words..... it’s not.*
Relationships: Luka Couffaine | Viperion/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain
Series: Lukanette Requested Oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695445
Comments: 11
Kudos: 147





	Mad About the Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Swiftieanimecat](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Swiftieanimecat).



He heard her yawn a mile away.

Concern grew more evident on his masked features, the teal and black failing to hide worry on his sharp structure when he finally caught sight of her bounding the infamous yo-yo to the chimney of the building he stood on. 

She landed gracefully and approached him, eyes squinting and a tired wink.

"I'm so ready for patrol to end," she stretched her arms above her head, body leaning one way as her shoulders cracked.

"You seem awfully tired, you sure you're fit to do this tonight?" He stared at the girl behind Ladybug's mask, almost inching closer before he stopped himself.

"Of course I am, Viperion. This isn't my first time pulling an all nighter."

"Yeah, okay I get it."

They walked in silence across rooftops, Luka humming variants of songs and genres until he landed on one that finally broke her quiet manner.

An eyebrow quirked up in response at her identifying which song based on the intro and who was covering it, her singing it perfectly in its original language served only to reinforce his affection for her. He smiled, sharpened lateral incisors peeking out as he hummed louder to match her voice.

" _Mad about the boy,_

_I know it's stupid to be mad about the boy._

_I'm so ashamed of it but must admit the sleepless nights,_

_I've had about the boy."_

He stopped walking, head tilted back in an amused laugh as she started to tranquilly waltz with him under the moonlight on some stranger's rooftop apartment.

He really should've known if anyone was to sound like a 50's singer with such an authentic voice, it'd be her.

He dipped her, allowing his humming to come back to its original melody and not his own creation to prolong it just to be in the moment with her.

" _On the silver screen,_

_He melts my foolish heart in every single scene."_

He blinked in surprise when she booped his button nose while her voice rang the last notes of the verse she was in, heat flushing through his entire body and pricking along his cheekbones.

“ _Although I'm quite aware that here and there_

_Are traces of the cad about the boy."_

He twirled her out, hands connected and they remained outstretched from one another as they no longer followed the typical waltz and fell into their own form of a dance.

Her arm remained far parted from him while still holding him, her free hand raised to her chest above the black band on her new suit with a ladybug wing webbing pattern under it. Her back arched as her voice adapted to the sudden key change, loud and melodic for the nightlife of Paris to hear.

" _Lord knows I'm not a fool girl,"_ she tugged him closer, him still humming almost trancelike and unable to part from her. She ran her gloved fingers along under his mask to his cheekbones then jaw. _"I really shouldn't care."_

He felt as though they should care they were having a musical and spontaneous moment almost to midnight. He feared waking others up somewhere in the depths of his mind but he couldn't bring himself to stop her or look away. His entire skin grew hotter by the second, breath hitching from her touch and close proximity.

" _Lord knows I'm not a school girl,_ " her voice grew quieter as they gravitated closer to one another, his humming lost somewhere in the mist of his pulse ringing in his ears and her soft voice flowing through him.

" _In the flurry of her first affair."_

Her thumb caught on his bottom lip, sparing him a half conscious thought to pull away and hide the snake like fangs he now had after their suits upgraded a year or two ago. He couldn't though, he was torn between the dazed look she had in her eyes as she studied his face and the last words she had purred out.

_What was she to Chat Noir? To Adrien?_

She drifted away from him, staring down distractedly at her own footwork while she sang the last of the song and then disappeared.

He jumped down to the pavement with her, silent and lost in thoughts of losing control with her tonight and growing closer when she had held him.

"So, Chat coming back from his trip tomorrow?" He tried. He wondered if saying his friendly rival's alter-ego's name would stamp down the overwhelming urge to hold her and kiss her, to profess everything he had ever felt for her.

Luka was nicknamed the puppy of the group by Ayla and Alix. He only flinched in response when he first heard it but didn't stop it nonetheless. Now it was evident why they called him it.

_Because he followed her like a lost lovesick puppy._

He knew the girls were aware of his feelings for Marinette, just didn't know it was that apparent until he pieced it together. He didn't want to consider the possibility of her knowing the weight behind all his supporting words back then.

"No, five days." She rounded a corner, the miraculous's long black pony tail with red streaks she was concealed with swaying behind her, eyes narrowing and head cocking to the side as she placed a hand blindly to Viperion's chest to stop him in his place.

She waited several minutes before straightening herself. "Weird, I thought I heard something." Ladybug faced him again, leaning against the brick of the building and letting out another yawn. "He's got some fashion show in Dubai and I didn't bother asking for more details because I couldn't afford distractions then."

"Oh, because of that one project for your design class, right?" He didn't miss the surprised look on her face, but briefly wondered if the neon lighting made her cheeks pink beneath her new red highlighter on her cheekbones or if that was a blush. "What, did I say something?" He rushed in a concerned tone, bending to meet her short height.

She inhaled sharply, "No, just caught off guard that you remembered something so trivial."

He straightened, "Trivial? I thought it was a big percent of your grade?" He shrugged, turning to walk ahead of her in the shadows when he saw something glint several feet ahead.

"Yeah and it is I just," he heard the panic in her loss of breath before he could turn around. The cry of his name escaped her lips in a way that would forever haunt him. " _LUKA!"_

Thousands of thoughts crossed his mind. Primarily the desperation in her voice and how _his_ name tore through her throat, not his hero name.

He spun and instantly caught the thick wrist of a brute, heavily coated in tattoos and piercings that alarmed even Luka behind his mask.

His weight bared against the large man’s, body leaning forwards and eyes turning to slits of a snake but detected no akuma in him. He wasn’t sure if that frightened him more or not.

Ladybug made quick work with her yo-yo, stringing it tight around the raised arm with a broken booze bottle Viperion’s eyes kept darting to as his teeth bared in physical exertion. His chest heaved and he wasn’t sure whether to breathe or hold it in as he pressed further against him, veins straining underneath his skin.

He almost fell forwards when the guy backed off of him, a putrid breath of alcohol hitting his face as the Luka beneath the mask nearly vomited from his allergy...like a child who is allergic to peanut butter and sees it reacts negatively.

He couldn’t give himself a natural body reaction when the drunk turned for Ladybug, arm swinging downwards for her and the heroine without a sliver of a chance to escape. She braced herself; ready to take a hit for her next move.

_She’s not indestructible, she’s still just a human._

Faintly, Luka was aware he too was human, but he valued her life over his own. He felt his core tightened with the strength the miraculous gave as maneuvered his body with snake like speed between the two, his back pressed against her front as the broken glass slashed into his left shoulder and down to his chest.

He let out a shout, his knees going weak as the drunk stumbled back and Viperion personally had to yank the bottle out himself. Blood followed in spurts then slowly trickled down his chest and along the ridges of his dark suit.

Ladybug’s eyes, once both blue and red with a diagonal cut to make her harder to unmask by connection, burned red solely, blue nowhere to be seen as anger rose in her.

_She hadn’t been this pissed off in years._

But Viperion was already tossing the bottle aside, not even considering it a defensive weapon, as he dashed forwards and around the man. A snake aura followed around him as he moved at a frightening speed from the new abilities and powers.

And only Ladybug could see in between movements every so often as his teeth bit painfully into his lip and he stumbled.

She wanted to hurt the man, personally make him suffer, do what he did to Luka.

She stepped forwards until his voice cut through, “Stay the hell away!” She froze, because he sounded _so fucking mad_. He’s never sworn at her before or sent a sharp glare her way.

Then again, the musician now had a personal vendetta against the assaulter and if she stepped into his charm mist, she’d be unfocused as well. So she could only watch as teal finally filtered up into the air and the man spun around.

She had been distracted that she barely acknowledged her body reacting to Viperion’s command as she threw her yo-yo to him and he circled around the man’s ankles, pulling hard and sending him onto his back before he hovered on his knees over the drunk.

Viperion intended to leave him with his new quick two finger prick on an exposed spot that would mimic the effect of lowering blood pressure dramatically to evoke a fainting spell but the man’s free hands reached up and clung around the hero’s neck, squeezing hard with a cry when Viperion’s fangs sunk into the skin at the back fo his hand. He didn’t let up with his uninjured hand but barely had time to register the rise of the snake wielder’s fist before it came to deliver a brutal blow that Ladybug heard, a sickening crack of the man’s nose while Luka’s own blood dripped onto the man’s clothes and his crimson colored fist mixed with teal and black returned the man’s back to his face from above where it hovered.

Except he didn’t let up after the first punch, he dealt lesser blows as he managed to control his strength despite the rush of adrenaline. He leaned in close after the last punch, two fingers digging into the man’s neck as a faint glow emitted from his gloves and onto his sweaty skin, he closed in on his ear and spoke in a low and terrifying voice with a growl, “ _No one can fucking touch her.”_ He stood, and made a move to step away from the man on loose footing when the man grasped at his ankle before he lost consciousness and he spun on one heel, gripping his wrist hard and slamming his arm down with his foot.

“Try that again, and I might just fucking kill you.” His voice rumbled in a malicious voice and yet still so quiet but not enough to pass over Ladybug’s hearing.

He looked up and saw two patrol cars that had been parked behind him, doors opened and four officers with guns drawn.

Ladybug had dialed for their services knowing that it fell under their jurisdiction since the man wasn’t akumatized. But they weren’t ready to get involved with a pissed off Viperion who proved to be more deadly than his friendly smile showed.

He stumbled, adrenaline leaving his body now that she was safe and she met him halfway in a rush when he fell into her. His ear rested above her breast, her rapid heartbeat ringing in his ear as felt like he finally could breathe once more.

_She’s safe, she’s safe, she’s safe._

“Oh god, Luka..” she whined, low and whispery as she held his arms while his hands weakly gripped at her waist and one holding her thigh as he struggled to lift himself. She didn’t sound like Ladybug right now, she sounded like Marinette.

Why did that make him feel at peace with the night?

“You’ve got him?” Roger Raincomprix shouted at Ladybug as they closed in on the man, a father’s amount of worry for the older teenage superhero slumped on her. It was clear he knew they couldn’t take him to the hospital because no one knew who Hawkmoth was or where he worked, no one could know his identity.

She looked up, and for the first time Raincomprix, in all the years he had handed the reigns over to Ladybug, he thought she looked truly frightened. “Huh? Yes, yes I’ve got him.” She gripped him tighter, back peddling as she pressed murmured assurances into his hair and a long kiss with trembling lips while he grimaced into her chest when his foot got caught behind him with an audible scrape.

She disappeared behind a building as he leant against it, no words making their way to his mouth as he panted harshly. She struggled to figure a way to transport them to her rooftop as she lifted his snake like hood over his head to conceal his expressions if someone caught them.

He looked up with hazy eyes, “Ma -Mari..”

 _She never wanted to hear him stutter her name like that_ again.

She was quick to hold his face, wiping a pained tear away, “Can you hold on a little tighter for me, handsome?” A sad smile slipped past as her heart ached for him when he nodded with his lips pressed in a firm line, exhaling sharply through his nose.

Fuck, her place or his boat? They were nearly in the middle between their homes. Fuck.

 _Fuck_.

She couldn’t yo-yo them across the town for numerous reasons.

He couldn’t hang on to her form behind because his large and deep wound would be pressing into her shoulder blade and give unnecessary contact. He couldn’t take control of the swinging because that means only one good arm could either support her or hang onto the string. She couldn’t carry him because he was too heavy for her small frame.

She slid down the brick wall a few inches, breathing deeply.

_Fuck it._

She pulled the yo-yo out and dialed a number she knew by heart. She almost cried with relief to find they were still up.

“Hello?”

“It’s me, I um, he’s hurt badly. We, we can’t go to the hospital. He’s struggling, and I, please. We need to get him to his house.” She fumbled, walking away from him for a second and mumbling out an address. He didn’t notice her hanging up or making the call, he wanted to slink lower and she was instantly there to help him.

He started to slump to his right and she broke the chance of contact with the pavement as he collapsed into her chest, whimpers held in the back of his throat as her gloved fingers worked under his hood and stroked his hair, her free hand wrapping around his shoulder and thumb drawing distracting patterns.

“You’re going to be okay, alright?”

“Mm,” he grunted. His hand pressed to his chest some more and he felt awful for the blood on her suit despite knowing it would disappear after tonight, just like the cuts in his suit.

“I need you to stay with me, I need you awake to drop your transformation in a bit. Can you do that for me?”

“Yea,” he slurred. He felt like he was lying to her but he couldn’t bring himself to focus. She smells so nice.

A van pulled up near the alley, blurred images of Sabine and Tom running to them.

“Oh my,” Sabine dropped to her knees, tears filling her eyes as she studied Luka. She pulled his hood back and ran a hand through his hair and down his face. “Dear, how much does it hurt? Where is it?”

Luka moaned in pain, shifting against Marinette’s body so he was in between her legs with his back to her chest and leaning his head further back to shout a curse when Sabine accidentally made contact over a folded flap piece that resided over the open wound. His eyes snapped open and they were in teal slits with black swallowing them, his predator eyes.

Marinette felt him panicking as his mind grew fuzzy. She carefully held his face, stroking along his jaw as she gave a watery smile, forcing the blues of her eyes to coat over the red just for him.

“Hi, love. You’re okay, you’ll be alright.” He zeroed in on those familiar eyes, his own falling back to normal the longer he stared up at her. “They’re trying to help you.”

Sabine sniffed, “I’m so sorry, dear. It’s not my intention to hurt you.”

“‘S’okay.” Was barely managed out of the snake’s mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t,” he whined, “Sorry..”

Tom returned, “The van’s opened and I have the tarp laid down, he can’t drop in it though, there’s camera’s littered everywhere around here.” He stared at Marinette, “I’ll have to take detours before we can get him there.”

“Okay, yeah okay, that’s fine.” She hugged around his shoulders, “I need you to be strong for a little bit more time. Is that okay?”

He swallowed a shout down as Sabine’s hand mapped out the size of the wound, grunting a response. He hadn’t noticed her parents wearing heavy jackets and baseball caps until Sabine slipped a marker from her ear to mark his chest.

If he had to guess, the van’s logo was probably covered too. 

Sabine looked to Tom, “It’s a big cut. Deep too.” She looked at Marinette, “He fought with this?”

“The adrenaline kick the suit gives is insane, he must’ve not felt the pain while he fought back.”

She looked towards her father, “Please be gentle with him.” The man only nodded, bending down between the woman and hoisting the singer into his arms, carefully.

He was set down in the back of the van, Ladybug’s lap supporting his head as she kept playing with his hair to soothe him.

It was kinda working, almost. He still felt the immense pain and wondered briefly if there was glass embedded into his skin and cut.

He hadn’t noticed the turns and stops at lights until he was being carried by her dad again and he felt the family rock of a boat.

“Anarka!” Ladybug shouted, almost crying from relief when the woman appeared from behind the steering wheel. “Help, please he’s hurt.”

Neither knew it was possible, not even Marinette’s parents, but Anarka dropped the pirate act and started assessing the situation.

“This is a bar injury,” she stared blankly despite the worrisome tone that laid beneath her words.

“Drunk man, he must’ve been stumbling around for a few blocks but he came out of nowhere.” Ladybug was furiously wiping at her eyes, “I, the man corner me and I couldn’t move without provoking his anger further after I took the attention off Luka, but Luka still wedged himself between us and took the hit.”

Luka’s hand blindly seized hers, “Lady, she, she didn’t know.”

Anarka almost snorted as a stray tear slipped past her lashes, “The hell you mean I didn’t know? You think I can’t tell my handsome son is the snake wielder because of a mask? I created you. A mother can always tell just like Sabine with Marinette.” She let out a shaky sigh, azure blue eyes looking at her son’s cloudy miraculous teal ones with black where the white should be. “Take him to his cabin, Jules is with Alix and Rose tonight. I’ll go get the stuff to take care of that.”

As soon as Marinette stepped into his room, she let out a long, uneven, sigh. “Tikki, spots off,” a red flurry flying to Luka’s port window. Her parents stood in the entry way, entranced for a second before Sabine enveloped her in a tight hug.

“I’m glad you’re okay, I’m glad he’ll be okay after tonight.”

Marinette only smiled a little, walking out of her mother’s grasp to sit on the edge near Luka’s bed, hands sifting through his black and teal hair some more as Anarka walked in. 

“I need you to detransform for me, Couffaine. Is that okay with you?”

He grunted, half-assing his command and Sass casting a concerned look as he joined Tikki, both went unnoticed by the adults, while Anarka saw the flash, and then her son with the now black and electric blue locks, pinker lips, and normal teeth.

She rolled her eyes, trying to gain control of herself. “Honestly, the kid thought I wouldn’t notice. All that happened was his hair and eyes changed colors.” She yanked a rattan stool over, sterilizing tools she happened to have on hand -to which everyone collectively agreed to not question why out of fear. “Marinette, I need you to support him from behind. You’re fairly strong, and no offense Tom, but you would scare him if he came in and out of consciousness, he’s already a little frightened by you.”

“Me? Why? I love the kid like he’s my own since he started working at the bakery.”

Both Sabine and Anarka shared a look before they directed Tom’s gaze to his daughter and her son. Marinette holding Luka with her arms hugging his shoulders, face pressed to his neck murmuring encouragements and compliments. Luka’s left hand gripped onto her dangling right one tightly, resting them just below his heart on his bare chest as he let out pained groans and whines.

Anarka unzipped the hoodie he had been wearing before patrol, no shirt underneath since he planned to take it off and crash as soon as his shift was over. She pulled back the front, not attempting to remove him from it. His mom wiped at the dried blood, too much pressure and Luka screamed again, crying “Mari” as his head leaned into hers that was still buried in his neck, tears visibly sliding from his collarbone down his chest from her.

“ _Oh_ ,” Tom let out, watching the two in a different light.

He and Sabine had fallen in love with Luka the moment he stopped by for a pastries order his sister called in. He was sweet, very polite, wasn’t a sweet talker per se as his words were genuine and filled with a rare form of kindness that was so selfless.

Then they had the pleasure of having Marinette walk in and shocked to see him. He looked surprised as well before he teased her openly with a “Hi Ma-Ma-Marinette”, and she let out a giggle followed by a snort, and Luka looked at her like she was his everything.

Tom nearly begged -an already agreeable- Sabine to ask Luka to work there the next time he stopped by just because he found someone who stared at his daughter the way he wanted the world to see her like he did.

He thought he was just being an annoyingly hopeful father, but it was painfully obvious now how deep their bond ran and the thin line they were treading from becoming friends to something more. 

She once liked the blond kid, Adrien, but he felt Adrien needed something before he could have someone. He was thankful the moment she stated over dinner that she didn’t care for him much anymore, preferred having him as a friend.

He planned to help in any way he could, but now he felt more than obligated like a bystander parent would when seeing a kid hurt. He wanted Luka’s pain to stop, wanted Marinette to stop hurting for him and crying, wanted them to find peace in one another.

“Anarka, do you need any help right now?” He asked, his affection for the boy ever stronger knowing what he meant to his daughter.

“Yes,” she worked through her own torture of seeing her son in pain and wounded, “Hold down his legs, Sabine, his arms.” She leaned in close to Luka, pressing a kiss to his sweaty skin with a quiet, “I’m so sorry, baby.”

_She had never been so serious before._

And she started pulling out shards of glass, deeply embedded in him from when he shakily yanked the bottle out of himself, while he screamed some more, turning his head and sobbing into Marinette’s hair, trying not to grip her hand too tight because half of him was still aware that he didn’t want to hurt her. She pressed a kiss to his neck, a gesture of concern to him, while he gasped for air.

“It didn’t hit anything major, but I need to disinfect this. I’ll use an alcohol wipe around the area, but I’d prefer to use hydrogen peroxide on the wound instead.”

“Why? Because it won’t hurt as much?” Sabine questioned, looking up from her kneeling position where she held his arms.

“No, it’ll still hurt a lot for him. But Isopropyl alcohol, or rubbing, has typically over 90% of it. Hydrogen peroxide has usually around 7%.” She looked down, flipping the brown cap. “He’s alcohol intolerant and right now, I’d rather not take the chance of seeing how poor my medical knowledge is and if a higher concentration content ends up in his bloodstream. It won’t be good, he’ll get sick. His system and body can’t handle it. The last thing I need is for him to faint like he did when we discovered he had it.” She breathed, “Besides, this always worked on his cute and scrapes.”

Anarka was feeling like she was failing at a mother in that moment, unsure if pouring rubbing alcohol would affect his body the way it did when taken in consumption, but this wasn’t a moment to be reckless and carefree like she usually was.

Luka was half listening, half wallowing in agony, a little bit losing himself in everything Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

He lolled his head back, leaning against her chest that was just in akitty section t-shirt she wore to bed, looking up at her as her hand wiped at the streaks.

He managed a weak and dreamy, soft grin as he felt himself fully lose it. “You’re so pretty,” he muttered, clear for everyone to hear as they let out a laugh while he was distracted, before he shouted an explicit followed by a quick “sorry” to the adults and a long hissing groan.

He heaved for air, cheek pressed to Marinette’s as she watched Anarka make work to sew him up.

“Anarka, how’d you learn to do this?” Sabine asked in a politely curious tone.

She smirked, “I’ve had my run in with some bar injuries. Quit after I had him.” She began carefully patching him up, “Never thought my son, the dork who is alcohol intolerant, would get a drunken related injury.”

Luka’s prolonged wail of bitter annoyance was enough of an answer.

His mom looked up at Marinette watching her fix her son with a mournful expression, “How come you couldn’t use your purification mojo?”

She gave a sad smile, “It only works on anything akuma related. This man was just a violent drunk and we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” She pressed the bottom half of her face down to his shoulder where she met skin and a fraction of his hoodie, “The man was so quiet, we didn’t know he was there but he took a swing at Luka and, and then came for me, my options were limited. But Luka, he managed to use snake speed and placed himself between us, taking the hit. So,” Marinette sniffed, “Purification won’t do anything for him, everything wasn’t caused by an akuma. Just man. I had never been so frightened of a man more than akuma.”

“How long do you think it’ll take to heal?” Sabine asked, reaching to brush hair away from a severely out of it Luka.

“Give him a week at most, the one good thing about this is that wielding a miraculous heals critical injuries faster than any other human’s. It’s meant to protect us, get back into the game sooner, conceal our identities. Say someone with a mask got stabbed in the side and then the next day they’re clutching their side while in civilian form, it’s easy to put two and two together. He’ll either be left with a very faint scar or he won’t have one at all, it’ll just be casted into his dreams instead.”

The look she had in her eyes worried everyone; far off and distant, familiar and damaging.

Sabine and Tom were almost horrified to consider asking how many times she had been hurt like this or close, how many nightmares she had and kept to herself at night.

The pirate spoke up, “So how long have you known she was Ladybug?”

Marinette snorted, taking the distraction with gratitude. “They’ve probably known since the first day, just didn’t say anything because they knew I couldn’t tell them before.”

“Well, at least Luka had the decency to change his hair color back then,” nowadays, his hair would change to a messy style that was evened out by a shorter cut in the sides so no one could make the connection, “You still had pigtails with those damnable red ties, vibrant blue eyes. I’m just glad your new suit gives you so many changes to keep your identity safe.”

“I’m still not okay with the suit sometimes,” Tom said, pissed off from articles he has read that focused on his daughter’s figure.

“I don’t have control over that really,” Marinette blushed heavily, the two women laughing. “Back on topic, tonight I just broke the barrier between the truth and secret, and called them on my yo-yo. They didn’t question it and came right away for us.”

She looked up, tears threatening to leak. “I’m so lucky to have you guys. I really do love you two.”

Sabine and Tom couldn’t move, holding down Luka who appeared to be stronger outside the suit than they originally thought as his limbs tried forcing the weight off to protect himself. They only projected their love into a smile for her as Anarka came to a finish.

She pressed another kiss to her son’s sweaty forehead, whispered an apology, and covered his wound with a large piece of gauze and medical tape.

She glanced down at the bruises on him that Ladybug missed him getting when the man took a random swing into Viperion’s dizzying snake charm, apparently having made contact with his body a few times and having gotten good punches in. The bruise circling one wrist where the man’s freehand gripped him back. The bruise on his ankle where his adidas bared purple and blue, it had been before the man fainted and had a hold before Luka stomped him down.

Then the ones where the man had choked him that were dark and a menacing reminder.

“You did so well,” Marinette whispered into his skin, his breathing still harsh and rapid, but slowing every minute.

“Tom, Sabine, you can sleep here tonight in my cabin -it’s cleaner than what you’re imagining.” How she inferred the collective thought that they weren’t sure how to get home with Luka present on their minds was beyond them.

“What about you?”

“I’ll go sleep in the main room with the glass panels, we just fixed the missing ones and added doors to it, so I’ll be fine.” She put the first aid away. “I trusted the stars to find my way here in this specific spot on the Seine, now I trust them to help me find peace tonight.”

“What do you want me to do?” Marinette spoke up, hand in his hair again as he subsided to soft whimpers where his chest rose and wanted to strain against the stitches.

“Take a washcloth or two from the bathroom and some cold water, I don’t want to risk him getting a fever tonight and he’s kinda gross with the sweat right now.”

“Right, okay.” She agreed, rushing an apology when she moved out from under him and he whined in response, barely able to process anything besides the feel of her leaving him.

“You can sleep here with him tonight, it’s clear your parents were thinking the same thing, he’ll be less likely to have a nightmare if you’re by his side and from the looks of it,” she met the girl’s eyes with pity, “Those nightmares must be worse than the real thing at times, huh?”

Marinette didn’t say anything, jaw tightening and quickly looking away.

She couldn’t admit to that with her parents standing there, even if her silenced damned her to the truth more than she liked. 

Anarka came up to her, grasping her hands, “My son isn’t like me at all, he’s not reckless and knows how to avoid conflict. It’s probably why he wields a miraculous that kept him working in the shadows for the first year or so before he worked more in scene with you.” Her hands squeezed harder in a comforting way, “But he’s alike in the way that when we care for someone or love someone, we risk our own lives to save theirs, despite the cost.”

“So, what you’re saying is...”

Anarka wasn’t about to out her son more than she already did, “I’m saying he’s most likely to have a nightmare where he was late to your rescue, where you were the one to get hurt or worse. He’ll need to see that you’re okay and right by his side.” She glanced at the nervous wreck of a girl, “If you can’t do that, just say so now and I’ll be there to tell him you’re okay.”

“No! I mean, I’m sorry. I’ll do it, I want to do it. I want him to be okay.” She looked at Luka, who was sleeping now, “I really don’t know what I’d do if he wasn’t okay.”

“Right well, we’ll be out there near the deck if you need us. There’s some clean clothes of his in case you get cold in those shorts of yours.” She watched Anarka walk out of the room with her parents, parting her with a sad smile and a frown to Luka.

She scratched at her hair, looking around his side of the room and opening his port window so he could breathe better, air out. The chill hitting her, promoting a shiver, Luka almost sighing in relief.

Marinette wandered to the bathroom, waiting near the sink for a bucket of water to fill in the shower as she grabbed a washcloth on the rack. She glanced up to find her reflection in the mirror, red eyed, puffy faced, tear streaked. The boat was cold and she blinked away the blurriness, letting her hair down to cover her neck focused on her eyes.

Almost reading her mind, her mother walked in, staring at her for a second before she spoke.

“What does it mean, when Ladybug’s eyes are completely red?” Everyone had seen her new eyes, the double color in both. But it was rarely recorded of the young heroine’s eyes to be solely a blood red crimson.

She sighed in an ashamed way, not wanting to confess to her mother what exactly it meant while wanting to expose it all and have the weight lifted.

“It’s um, it was originally intended to almost five Chat Noir a warning when he was taking things too far or reel him back in when he was getting out of hand, -my kwami, Tikki, she thought of it. I’m sure you’ve seen her by accident a few times-, but eventually it became a symbol of my predator mode as well.” She looked at her mother, “I truly wanted to kill that man the second he put his hands on Luka.”

She had. She had forgotten that despite using her powers for good intentions, they were powers regardless and now that she was older, they were vulnerable to be tied to her feelings after she was granted all her powers and abilities. She would’ve killed him if Viperion hadn’t shouted at her to stay back. If he hadn’t been seeking his own revenge for them both.

The faucet turned off with a thudding noise, the echoing of the bucket being filled ceasing. It was impossible to tell which felt heavier, the bucket or her heart that was endlessly twisting in her chest.

_Twisting, sinking, hanging, whatever._

Her mom moved out of the way, letting her pass before she called after her. “Marinette, you know it’s okay to lose control for someone you love, right?” She felt the hand on her shoulder, “I’m glad he didn’t let you fight, maybe he saw you losing control, maybe he didn’t want you getting involved. You’ve said so yourself, haven’t you? That he has the best self control out of anyone you know?”

She ignored the mentioning of loving him.

“Yes.”

“Honey, he’s the snake. He’s more than capable of killing someone, he’s strong outside the suit too, and yet he didn’t tonight. He didn’t kill that man, but he still saved the both of you.” Marinette’s hand shook, handle rattling a bit. “I know how easy it is to forget your heroes within that moment. I know how easy it may be for you to believe you can take him on yourself. And I know you’re both still so young and you have the right to be scared for your lives. You’re often fighting those with horrible themes to them and idiotic powers, but tonight was different.” She kissed her cheek, “Go be with him, you both need one another right now.”

Departing from her daughter, she walked in on Anarka and Tom’s conversation, Tom’s question.

“So, how’d you know about Luka’s feelings for Marinette?” Accepting the cup of water he was offered.

“Feelings? If I’m not wrong, it’s pure and unadulterated love at this point. And it’s the same way I found out Marinette was Ladybug.” Sabine sat down with Tom, Anarka sitting opposite of them. “The way he looks at her, finds joy in everything she does, worries about her like they’re married. He’d watch the news in pure silence whenever he wasn’t pulled into action, and whenever she took a blow or was thrown, there was too much pain on his face that I had only seen whenever he was with Marinette when she was hurt or upset. He never looked anywhere else for someone, at another girl. Only ever her and he gave her up, choosing to be her friend because he figured that’s what she needed.”

“If it’s any consolation, we’re ready to marry her off to him.” Tom piped up, drinking his water.

Sabine raised a hand to silence her husband despite Anarka’s laughter, before she dropped it, head hanging lowly. “I too would love to have that boy as part of our family. His love is so apparent and giving, it’s hard to not to adore him. And seeing them work together in the bakery is one of the greatest joys given to us.”

“Don’t worry, Sabine. The moment I met your daughter and she was cleaning up around here, I just knew I had to send her to Luka and bring them together.”

It grew quiet, “You think they’ll be alright?”

The women shared a collective look again. A laugh rushing out of Luka’s mother’s mouth, “I think they’ll be more than alright come tomorrow, they both unknowingly laid their feelings out on the table tonight and there’s no way to come back from it.”

“I think we might get that wedding sooner than we think,” Sabine excitedly whispered.

Marinette sat with him for awhile, staring and not entirely there as the night’s events played in her mind rapidly.

The cold was getting to her now, but Luka seemed content with the temperature than before. So she stood up, idly responding to Tikki and Sass when they expressed concern, grabbing at a dark blue zip up he had left out on a chair and pulling it onto herself with the hood over her darker hair.

She dunked the washcloth in, wringing it and then wiping the sweat off his face, neck, shoulders, chest and abdomen. She re-soaked it and placed it on his forehead, sitting on the rattan stool that was by his bed. Small and deft fingers moved his hair out of his face, playing with it as he sleepily hummed his appreciation, growing quiet when her hand traveled to stroke along his cheekbone to jawline. He turned his head to lean into her hand, a pained look on his face as he started grunting from a dream.

In a quiet voice, shaky and whispered, she sang their rooftop song.

_“Mad about the boy,_

_I know it’s stupid, to be mad about the boy.”_

His face relaxed with each drawn note of hers, lips parting a small bit and him growing quiet. He made a noise in the back of his throat when she leaned over and pressed her lips to his cheek.

She stood up, ready to move the bucket further from the bed when his hand caught her wrist. She looked down and saw him squinting up in pain at her, “Luka?”

“Don’t leave.”

She crouched down, hand holding his face, “Luka, I’m not..”

“Please don’t leave, please.”

If Luka was at the point of begging for something _he_ wanted, then it made the situation all the more worse. 

A wary smile took place on her features, pressing her nose against his, her breath shuddered. “I won’t, I’m right here.” She moved to sit along his left side, her legs finding placement in between his parted ones, letting his hand grip hers and rest his face against them, her other free hand tracing very lightly along the bandage on his bare chest.

“I’m right here, love. You’re okay, you’ll be okay. I’m not going anywhere.”

And she didn’t, even when he woke up in fright after seeing the brute strangle the life from her eyes.  
  


He had sat up, crying from the pull of muscle near the wound for several seconds, and his hand moving to hover over it, only to feel a weight holding his arm instead and a hand running over his back.

He looked to his right and saw Marinette in his peripheral, her small and round nose the only visible part of the bottom half to her face, lips pressing to his shoulder above the fabric.

“Oh fuck, oh thank fucking god. You’re alright, you’re safe, you’re alive. Fuck,” he fell forwards, sobbing into his hands and pulling his legs up, Marinette’s adjusting in between them. She pressed her forehead to his cheek that was leant downwards, felt the shaking of his body when her arms encircled around him, and kissed the sleeve of his hoodie when her fingertips touched the sheen layer of sweat from his nightmare.

“...How bad was it?”

He shook his head, “Please don’t make me, I -I don’t want to see it again. I don’t want to picture it again.”

She had to force his head up, cradling his face in her hands and wiping at the tears. He relented the most he could.

“He hurt you, you died...”, his lower lip trembled and his eyes refused to meet hers after he confirmed she was really there.

“Luka,” he still wouldn’t look at her, “I’m okay.”

He shook his head again, “No, no, he was in front of you, he was going to hurt you, .... I could’ve been late.” He pulled himself out of her grasp as much as he could, their legs still tangled together. His hands wrapped around his sides and his head hung low. “This is why I can’t be your partner, why I can’t be used often, why I can’t be with you, why I can’t-,”

“Who told you that?” He went impossibly still despite the the tremors wracking through him. His lip twitched, button nose scrunched, and he looked at the floor to his right before squeezing his eyes shut.

“Marinette, I -,” he exhaled sharply, “Adrien, Chat Noir, whatever. _Shouldn’t you be with him?_ The one who is always on time? The one you’re in love with that always saves you and is your actual partner?”

She didn’t respond, moving her arms around his neck and despite what he said, his body moved on its own will and pulled her into his lap. His exposed chest feeling the soft cotton of her t-shirt, his face shoved into her neck as hot tears trekked down her skin and beneath the material. His body shook into hers, his short black nails grasping the material of his navy hoodie she wore. He pulled her closer, hands running from her waist to wrapping around her, feeling her alive and well in his arms.

The small girl pulled back, “My partner is the one who protects me, works well in tandem with me, who knows me.” She pushed hair out of his face, holding along his jawline and thumb catching his lower lip that wobbled, sealing noises of pain. “Chat, Adrien, he may be my legitimate partner by the laws of the miraculous, but I’ve never worked so well with anyone besides you. There were too many close calls with him and I, and we saved one another-,”

“Marinette...I almost _killed_ a man tonight. I almost lost control, I didn’t even realize I was capable of being that dangerous of a being. You can’t chance being with me.” He wanted her to be protected at all costs, but he wasn’t sure he knew himself anymore to be the one to do it. His heart hurt thinking he could’ve endangered her to begin with if he hadn’t been quicker.

“But _you make me feel safe_.” His eyes finally met hers, different shades of blue looking at one another, and, and he’s not sure if he’s ever seen her looking at him like _that_. “I trust you and every decision you make, I trust you enough to put my life in your hands and make hard choices. I trust you the most out of anyone.”

His hands shook as they gripped onto her waist, finding solid grounding.

“If it’s anyone I should be with, it’s you, Luka Couffaine. Why look elsewhere when you’ve been the only one in front of me and seeing me for more than the city’s heroine?” She looked downwards, hand hovering over his chest where the gauze laid, where the large jagged cut was. “Do you think it’s easy for me to see you like this? I hate it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” She let out a breathy laugh, sniffing as her head tilted back. “I don’t want you to apologize, you didn’t really have control over it. I just,” she struggled with her words then, seeing his patient look with his suffering beneath. Her breathing slowed, “I just,” she blinked, teeth grinding together. And then she pulled his face to hers, lips meeting his that parted in surprise and the pure torture of waiting _years_ for her.

It took him several seconds to bring himself to realize Marinette was kissing him, body carefully falling into his and allowing him to make the ending decision for them. His mind subconsciously telling him he shouldn’t do this, and his hand already moving to hold the side of her neck, deepening the kiss and trying to rid himself of the nightmare by feeling her alive and against his body, her soft lips on his and kissing the hell out of him.

He wasn’t sure whether the drive of the kiss from her was from fear or suppressed passion, but he couldn’t bring himself to care either when her hands were running through his hair like that and she was unsteadily breathing against his lips when they parted.

He brought her in for another kiss, then two more, before his eyes casted down and closed, gathering himself from overdoing it and scaring her off.

“I just want you to be safe in the end and come back to me outside the masks, to let me love you openly in either form that I know belong together. As Ladybug and Viperion, as-,”

“As Marinette and Luka?” He finished for her, tone hopeful and hiding how much rest he needed.

“As Marinette and Luka, I want that the most.” She traced his cheekbones, “Can we? Can we be together? Belong to one another?”

And even with hurt shooting through him with the lack of pain medication, he gave her the most brightest smile she had ever seen on him, a dimple appearing and button nose scrunch.

“I’ve belonged to you since I first saw you, Marinette.”

She cried, happily, a watery smile as she laughed, “So it’s a yes?”

“Depends, are you mad about a boy?” His teasing smile sent a blush through her.

She giggled into his neck, a small hand at his warm waist, “Yes, stupidly, I am mad about you.”

He grinned, pulling her for a chaste kiss, “I’m mad about you too.”

“Luka,” And as if his smile couldn’t get any happier, “I love you, completely.”

He kissed her once more, nuzzling his nose to hers in the dark room with a barely lit lamp, “I love you completely and wholeheartedly, Marinette.”

He laid them down, carefully as he could, and slept without nightmares the rest of the night with his small and petite girlfriend tucked into his left side, thin arms concealed in his hoodie she donned, wrapped around him above and the dip of his mattress while his rest in her hair. Her head on the left of his chest, his cheek pressed to her hair, and legs tangled together.

Whispering about how she would come there straight away after classes for him, how he was off patrol duty for two weeks, making him blush when he realized she enjoyed calling him “Love” and “Handsome”.

And parents planning their wedding the next morning as they rushed out with excitedly hushed whispers, wondering if Marinette would design her own dress and his suit, wondering if Luka would compose their own wedding song, what cake they should make.

Trying to dissuade Tom from offering Luka the money to buy an engagement ring the next day.


End file.
